Women's Game Conference primed for September

The first annual Women's Game Conference has announced its program and speakers and is set to run this September 9-10 in Austin, Texas. The conference will discuss the role of and issues facing women in the game industry. Program topics cover career paths for women in the industry, gender-inclusive game design, and marketing and design for female players.

Speakers from a variety of fields in the game industry, including design, marketing, recruiting, and journalism, will give presentations at the conference. The list of speakers includes Denise Fulton, executive producer at Ion Storm/Eidos; Beth Doherty, VP of sales for Acclaim Entertainment; Laura Fryer, director of Microsoft's Advanced Technology Group; and Sheri Graner Ray, senior game designer at Sony Online Entertainment.

"The average age of gamers is 29, the core demographic is 18 to 35, and a third of game players are women," said Chris Sherman, director of both the WGC and the Austin Game Conference, which will run concurrently with its sister event. "Getting more women involved in creating games fosters a diversity of ideas, which leads to new types of games and, ultimately, new players. This is about expanding the industry."

Registration for either the WGC or the AGC will provide access to both events. More information, including a full list of speakers and registration information, can be found at the official Web site.